The Spectator associate editor Peter Oborne, has written that the Syrian Army's victories in encircling the militant-controlled portions of the city of Aleppo are, in some ways, reminiscent of the liberation of the city of Stalingrad during the Second World War.

Oborne's piece, published by the conservative British news magazine last week and entitled "Aleppo Notebook: the city's terrorist besiegers will now be besieged," was based on the journalist's recent travels to the city, and his interactions with ordinary Syrians.

The article, together with Oborne's report for The Daily Mail and a televised interview he had with RT upon his return, triggered a vigorous debate in Britain, the United States and in Europe for its blunt critique of Western governments' position on Syria.

"When I returned to London," the journalist wrote, "I read in the newspapers that this turn of events [in Aleppo] was regarded as a calamity. Of course, it does depend on your point of view.

Government-held Aleppo was under siege from terrorist forces until last year. That was never reported. Now the areas of Aleppo held by the rebels are coming under siege. That is reported in the western press as a catastrophe, and has brought a concerned response from the British Foreign Secretary."

A week later, the journalist's 'Aleppo Notebook' continues to generate shockwaves, this time in Russia and the former Soviet Union, with social media users picking up on the journalist's comment that the situation in the terrorist-controlled portions of the city is now reminiscent of the situation in Stalingrad on the eve of its liberation.

"My time in Aleppo coincided with the turning point in the Syrian civil war. President Bashar Assad's forces, with the help of Russian air power, cut off the line of supply from the Turkish border to the terrorist forces encircling the government-held areas of the city. Deprived of fresh fighters, guns and ammunition from their Turkish sponsors, Al Nusra and other groups encircling the city are, over the long term, doomed. Islamic State, which sells its oil through Turkey, will start to run short of money. Think of Stalingrad in 1942: the besiegers are now the besieged," Oborne wrote; Sputnik reported.